The 2007 edition of the Lipscomb Lady Bisons volleyball team looks as good on the court as it did on paper.

Led by junior transfer outside hitter Sarah Snider, freshman setter Stefine "Jake" Pease and senior libero Ann Mullu ns the Lady Bisons opened the season with a 3-0 match sweep of Samford Saturday afternoon at Allen Arena in the first round of the Magic-Music Invitational.

"I'm very happy with the production we had," said Lipscomb coach Brandon Rosenthal. "I was real pleased with what we did.

"I thought our middles really did a nice job holding the ball blocking-wise. We were out-blocked, but that is standard for us. Defense is where we are going to win games. I also thought we served very well with only eight errors.

The Lady Bisons, who beat Samford 3-1 last season in the same tournament, won the three games by scores of 30-16, 30-20 and 30-27. It was the season-opening match for both teams.

In game one UAB swept Belmont 3-0 with scores of 30-25, 30-21 and 30-15.

Pease, playing in her first college game, was almost flawless with 38 assists.

"I commend Jake for really controlling the floor and running the offense we want to run," Rosenthal said. "She is not a real flashy player, but she is not going to make a lot of mistakes. She is very solid in all aspects of her game."

Snider had a match-high 17 kills and wowed the crowd with the power of her shots.

"We have been looking for this type of player," Rosenthal said. "The crowd got to see what she could do. I could feel the energy when she was in the front row. "

Mullins recorded a match-high 29 digs, including 13 in the last game.

"It was another great match from Ann," Rosenthal said. "She had 16 digs after the first two games and we talked about it. I told the team that if we stepped up our defensive game we could really take it to them. We were faced with a challenge in the third game and that was good for us.

"Challenges are fine. But when you are faced with that challenge you have to step up. You can't be conservative."